Sellesta Engage and El Duende: A case study in cost-effective conversion optimization

Erick Castañeda is the store manager at El Duende, a Mexican company that sells modern board games online and in store. We spoke to him about their experience and results using Sellesta Engage — a personalized recommendation tool for ecommerce customers that helps businesses to increase conversions.

Hi Erick, it’s great to have you here! Can you start by telling us about El Duende and your role in the company?

Sure! El Duende specializes in selling modern board games both online and in our physical store. We’ve been in business for almost 20 years now and have the most extensive catalog in Mexico, with suppliers from around 40 countries. Our plans for the future include further expanding our catalog, increasing the number of stores, and providing more services to companies as the use of games in the workplace grows.

As for my role, I am the Business Director, overseeing a team of about 15 people. Our team has many different goals, including planning events for people to come to the store and try out different games, managing our social media outreach, and improving customer service, which is always a key focus in our industry.

Sounds good. Could you tell us about how the company operates and what’s your biggest USP?

Absolutely! El Duende operates through two main channels — a physical store in CDMX and an online store. We sell exclusively in Mexico. We receive about 300 online orders and 300-400 physical store orders each month.

One of our biggest USPs is our extensive catalog of modern board games. But what sets us apart even further is our customer service. Our team of experts is always available to help customers with their queries and provide the best solutions. We have also incorporated various technological tools, such as Sellesta Engage, to guide customers in choosing products that best suit their needs. These tools are unique to us and not used by our competitors.

How did you manage to overcome the challenges you faced before implementing Sellesta Engage?

Before implementing Sellesta Engage, we didn’t have any specific solution in place. We had an idea in mind of what we wanted to do, which was to provide a simple guide to help new users navigate our site and find the products they were looking for. However, we needed a concrete plan or tool to make this happen.

When customers visit your page, do you think they typically know what they want?

It varies. Some customers visit our site without a clear idea of what they’re looking for or where to start, while others have some knowledge of the products and know exactly what they want. Regardless of the situation, we have found that Sellesta Engage is a very useful tool and works well for both types of customers. It helps guide those who are unsure and provides recommendations based on their interests while providing easy access for those with a specific product in mind.

Do you work with a web agency?

No, we don’t work with an agency. We have our own webmaster, marketing team, and social media staff, so we have the resources to manage everything in-house. That being said, the support we received from the Sellesta Engage team was more than enough. We were able to implement their solution seamlessly without any external assistance.

Please give us more details about the usage of the solution. Specifically, how many people are using it?

About 40% of our customers use the widget, which we think is great. Of those who use it, 60% make it all the way to the last question. And of those who get to the last question, about half of them end up making a conversion or purchase. We think these are significant numbers and a clear indication that the widget adds value to our customer’s experience on our website.

In what ways did this solution help you overcome any challenges?

Sellesta Engage wasn’t a replacement for any installed app but a totally new and innovative solution that helped us provide customers with the guidance they needed. The solution offered by Sellesta Engage has been a game-changer. It provided us with the support and results we sought by offering our customers recommendations based on what they searched in our catalog. This has helped us better cater to our customer’s needs, ultimately leading to more satisfied customers and increased sales.

How was your experience working with the Sellesta Engage team? Was there anything that particularly stood out to you during the onboarding process?

The support we received from the Sellesta Engage team was remarkable — from the moment they first contacted us, during the follow-up process, and even during the installation and explanation of how it works.

And it was a pleasant surprise for us to receive such excellent support, which ultimately led to an increase in our sales. Overall, we have never received this level of support from anyone else before.

Can you tell us more about the results you’ve seen with Sellesta Engage? Have there been any surprising outcomes?

We’ve been using Sellesta Engage for about four or five months now, which has given us enough time to make an assessment. We have seen positive results. Initially, we noticed a significant increase in sales figures, particularly during the months of November and December, which are typically high-growth periods due to the New Year and Christmas holidays. However, we’ve also noticed a steady increase in the use of the widget over time. Overall, we’ve had very positive results with Sellesta Engage. It has proven cost-effective from the first month, and we’ve seen favorable metrics because people are using the widget. 

We’ve noticed that when customers finish using the solution, there is a high conversion rate between what they initially searched for and what they ultimately end up buying. So the conversion stage has been particularly important for us. We have seen a marked improvement in our sales performance since implementing Sellesta Engage.

Can you share more about the costs associated with using Sellesta Engage?

The costs associated with using Sellesta Engage were quite minimal. We’ve seen a significant increase in profits since implementing the product, so it’s been a very cost-effective investment for us.

Do you have any parting advice for other companies looking to use Sellesta’s tools?

As customer acquisition costs continue to rise and new technologies are constantly being developed, ecommerce companies are always seeking an edge. Sellesta Engage provides that advantage. It is a highly versatile tool that can be used by companies in various industries, offering an intuitive and user-friendly way for customers to navigate their website, regardless of the catalog size.

Sellesta Engage is especially helpful for customers visiting a website for the first time and may need guidance on where to start. Its ability to enhance the user experience from the outset makes it a powerful solution for companies looking to expand their market and reach more clients.